Marseille tramway

The tram of Marseilles (French Tramway de Marseille) is one of three street railway companies in France that have not been completely shut down in the second half of the 20th century. Today, the tram is part of the Régie des Transports de Marseille ( RTM) and two lines are in operation; a third is under construction.

• 2.1 route network
• 2.2 Increasing
• 2.3 Rolling stock
• 2.4 depot

History

Generally

As in many major cities as well Marseille received a horse-drawn trams in the late 19th century. The first lines were on 23 January 1876 of the " Compagnie générale française de tramways " ( CGFT ), put into operation. From 1892 onwards was converted to steam operation, from 1900, the electrification. From 1905 bogie wagons were gradually purchased and connected the suburbs to the network. In 1903, the route to Aix -en- Provence was put into operation, the route to Aubagne followed in 1905.

During the 1920s, many vehicles have been modernized. In 1939 there were 430 railcars and 350 sidecar in operation, including 33 sidecar, which had been taken over in the year of the Paris tram. In 1948, the 21 km long line to Aix -en- Provence was converted to Buskurse. The " autonomous Régie des transports de la ville de Marseille " ( RATVM ) operated in 1950 20 tram lines. In February 1955, the closure of the line 41 took place, which reversed on the Canebière. As early as 1960 were all lines, except for the 68 decommissioned. A total of 71 lines were served.

Line 68

As in almost all French cities was in the second half of the 20th century, the streetcar more as an obstacle than as a desirable means of transport. From an extensive tram network with a maximum length of 178 km, which also extended to the surrounding areas of the city, there was only a 3 km section. It was the rest of the commissioned in December 1893 Line 68

She survived only because until 2004, because it fell within a 600 meter long tunnel and this was not suitable for buses. This tunnel was originally single track and in 1945 it was expanded to double track. By 1968 the trams wrong with rod current collector, the same year extensive modernization took place and since then bow collector were used.

In 2000 it was decided to expand the tram network again, first on two lines. 2003, the plan target was expanded to three lines.

On 8 January 2004, the last old line was temporarily suspended in order to allow a thorough renovation of the track.

The new tram

In the " Plan de déplacements urbains " (PDU ) from the year 2003, the construction of three tram lines was determined. The " Déclaration d' utilité publique ", the 468 million -euro project, took place on 29 June 2004. Due to financial difficulties, the expansion in phases had to be divided.

As the first Etape the line T2 ( Euroméditerranée Gantès -La Blancarde ) and the section La Blancarde -Les Caillols was the T1, on 3 July 2007 opened. Here, the eastern part of the former line was further used 68 of La Blancarde St. Pierre and extended to Les Caillols to 800 meters. At the same time a 4.7 -kilometer new line of La Blancarde went to Euroméditerranée Gantès in operation, completely realigned on its own traffic areas. In this way, then the T2 could reach the area Noailles and from there sailed the entire length of T2 on this 8.8 km long line even without the old tunnel.

The second phase consisted of the commissioning of the 1.5 km long section Eugène- Pierre -La Blancarde the old line 68, on 8 November 2007. From this date wrong again two tram lines in Marseille. The T1 drove by Eugène -Pierre Les Caillols and the T2 of Euroméditerranée Gantès to La Blancarde. The SNCF train station La Blancarde thus became a transportation hub for the local and regional public transport. For here was the connecting stop between the two tram lines, also came in 2010, a subway station added, in addition there is a connection to the local trains.

The third Etape was the commissioning of the tunnel the line T1 of Eugène- Pierre to Noailles. This section was due to delays in renovation of the tunnel will be opened on 27 September 2008. Because of the greater width of the new trams, the tunnel should be expanded first. To avoid the high cost of a tunnel extension, and finally it was decided instead to a single track within the tunnel, which at best allows a sequence of moves a 4 -minute intervals.

On 27 March 2010, the T2 was in a northerly direction to a stop extended ( 0.7 km ) from Euroméditerranée Gantès after Arenc.

The fourth phase originally provided the commissioning of the T3 (La Blancarde - Quatre- Septembre ) in 2010. The T2 should go to Castellane. Now, the T3 is to go to Castellane and commissioning is scheduled for 2014.

Route network

In 2013, 11.5 km of road rail line in operation. The following lines operate in Marseille:

• T1: Noailles ↔ Les Caillols over the station Blancarde (equivalent to Saint Pierre of the former 68)
• T2: Arenc le silo ↔ train station Blancarde about Canebière and Cinq- Avenues (tentative course from the northern part of the announced T2 and the eastern part of the announced T3)

The T1 line operates Monday to Friday during the day every 5 ½ to 6 minutes, the T2 line every 5 minutes. On Sundays wrong on both lines every 12 to 13 minutes a train. Per hour up to 4000 passengers are carried in each direction.

Extension

A new track from the stop Cours St. Louis southward through the city along the Rue de Rome at the station Castellane is to go since October 2012, under construction and planned in the first half of 2014. You will be served by the new line T3 Arenc le silo ↔ Castellane. On the 1.2 km long new track created five new stops: Cours Saint Louis, Davso, Place de Rome, Dragon and Castellane.

In the final stage of all lines a route length of 16 km to be achieved with an average distance between stops of 400 m. This five interchanges occur for Métro. In addition, along the tram lines are planted trees in 2000. A tram links to Aubagne is being considered.

Rolling stock

The vehicles for Marseille type Flexity Outlook were produced in Vienna by Bombardier Transportation since 2006. The commissioning of the trams was carried out on the test track of the Vienna tram. By July 2007 26 of the five -car trainsets were delivered at a price of 2.1 million euros each. They were in the delivery 32.5 meters long and 2.4 meters wide. The front end of the railcar is a reminder of a ship, an indication of the importance of Marseille, the largest port in France. The maximum speed is 70 km / h in the 32.5 m long vehicle 204 passengers find space, of which 44 seats. In 2012, all cars were extended by the installation of two additional modules to 42.5 meters, at the same time the interior was renewed. This conversion cost about 23 million euros.

In addition, in May 2012, six more cars were ordered for the route under construction in the Rue de Rome at Bombardier. It is planned to procure a total of 40 motor coaches, 36 are necessary for the full development of the network for normal operation, 4 are as a reserve available.

Depot

The tram depot is located near the station Saint -Pierre on a former military base. On the 32,000 m² area, the tram vehicles are serviced, shut down and cleaned. There are 14 sidings, a car wash and a workshop. The lobby also houses the control center.